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BTC BRIEF: Legislative Budget Targets: Cutting to the heart of state and local jobs and services

By Brenna BurchPublic Policy Analyst, BTCMarch 2011

KEY FINDINGS:

The leadership in the NC General Assembly has given each legislative joint appropriations subcommittee a spending target to aim for as its members create budget proposals for each department of state government. These targets are based on a $18.3 billion total budget—$1.6 billion less than the governor’s budget proposal—and would require drastic budget cuts in all areas, from schools to health care to services for those who are elderly and disabled.

An $18.3 billion budget would be an 8.4 percent reduction over the current year budget, making it the largest year-over-year percent reduction in total state spending in the last 30 years.

Such extensive state spending cuts, along with accompanying reductions in local spending, would eliminate thousands of jobs and undermine North Carolina’s nascent economic recovery.